mark.waltz The regrets of a long-ago unrequited love has made supposed ailing millionaire Charles Coburn decide to leave a bequest to that deceased woman's family. He moves in with them as a border under an assumed name to see how they will spend the money and finds out that simple people aren't so simple when it comes to sudden riches and the desire to move up the social ladder. In the process, he plays "Mr. Fix-It" for the pretty Piper Laurie who happens to look exactly like her grandmother did years ago and convince her boyfriend (Rock Hudson) not to make the same mistakes he did years ago. In the process, the family learns some valuable lessons, especially that life on the right side of the tracks is not as rewarding a a simple life where happiness rules, not the worries over finances.Stage veteran Charles Coburn had started his film career in his mature years 17 years before this playing mostly imperious wealthy men who dominated their family and ran their business with an iron hand. By the mid 1940's, he wasn't just an Academy Award Winning character actor who occasionally starred in a B movie, but a full-fledged star, as beloved by film audiences as the biggest of stars half his age. The early 50's typecast him as a lovable old grouch with a heart of gold, a flirtatious old geezer who not only got to kiss the hand of Marilyn Monroe, but prove to audiences that just because there was snow on the roof didn't mean that there was no fire in the furnace. This film was one of his best, and if it is your introduction to him, you will come out of it adoring him as well.As he goes from bed-ridden business tycoon to the repairman of a messed up family, Coburn goes from night shirt to raccoon coat, from hiding cigars in bed to dancing the Charleston. He even takes up finger-painting, sleeps with the family dog, and is caught in both a speakeasy and gambling house, later being accused of making out with the young Laurie in a silent movie house. The rumor mill of this man makes its way into high society as the greedy family he left money to basically sticks their nose up at him. The biggest nose raiser is the ridiculously social climbing Lynn Bari who would rather see daughter Laurie marry a man with money she didn't love than soda jerk/pharmacist Rock Hudson. This is a woman you want to see taken down a few pegs as her selfishness is outrageous.Bari's husband is played by Larry Gates, the character actor who won an Emmy for his long-running role as wealthy patriarch H.B. Lewis on "Guiding Light". He may be the breadwinner in the family (running a pharmacy which is a teen-aged hang-out at the soda stand), but quietly allows Bari to control everything. Gigi Perreau is their adorable youngest daughter who instantly takes to Coburn, while William Reynolds is the only son whom Coburn discovers has a gambling problem. The mixture of family drama into the comedy (with a few songs thrown in to give the flavor of the era) adds some realism.In smaller roles, Skip Homeier is the uppity rich brat Laurie is distracted by, Paul McVey and Gloria Holden ("Dracula's Daughter") as his snooty parents, Paul Harvey the judgmental judge, and in a one-line unbilled part, James Dean who harasses Coburn in the soda shop. It is a shame Hudson isn't in this scene as only a few years later, they would work together as rivals in the epic "Giant". Fritz Feld is the pretentious tango teacher who reminded me of Hermoine Gingold as he gave the society ladies instructions. Colorful photography, delightful music and a real feeling of what life in simpler days was like. Director Douglas Sirk may be more remembered for his plush soap operas, but this ranks as one of his best films.

bkoganbing Although Piper Laurie and Rock Hudson are the stars of Has Anybody Seen My Gal, this film belongs to Charles Coburn. He does one of those patented foxy grandpa roles that he honed to perfection in such films as The Devil And Miss Jones and The More The Merrier.Coburn plays one of the richest men in the world, Rockefeller type rich and the film opens in the Rockefeller town of Tarrytown where Coburn is one of their neighbors. He's making out a last will and testament and since he's got no family of any kind, he's decided to leave his money to the Blaidells who are the descendants of the woman he once courted, but who married someone else.But of course the Blaisdells do bear checking out so Coburn gets out of his sickbed where he's enjoying all attention he's been getting and visits them incognito. The family consists of husband and wife Larry Gates and Lynn Bari and children Piper Laurie, Gigi Perreau, and William Reynolds. Bari is the daughter of his lost love, but she's got a lot of social climbing pretensions, Coburn sees more of his former sweetheart in her granddaughter Piper Laurie. Piper's going out kind of with the soda jerk in her father's pharmacy Rock Hudson. But Skip Homeier is hanging around and he's the son of the wealthiest people in their town and that's a match Lynn Bari would prefer.Coburn gives them a test run so to speak. First he finagles his way into boarding with them under an assumed name. Then like John Beresford Tipton he bequeaths on them anonymously a check for $100,000.00. Of course it all goes to Bari's head and she drags the rest of the family somewhat reluctantly into a new lifestyle.Has Anybody Seen My Gal is set in the Roaring Twenties and the music score is of that period, popular tunes played in the background and occasionally done by the cast. Coburn has some incredibly good scenes here with Gigi Perreau, he saves Piper Laurie from being arrested in a speakeasy raid, and does a mean Charleston once he learns. Bari comes off second best in the cast as a woman who learns that even comparative wealth can bring with it all kinds of problems. Her family the Blaisdells learns in a more humorous way, the lesson George Bailey learned that no man is a failure who has friends. We can't all be millionaires.Four years away from when they shared Oscar nominations for Giant, Rock Hudson and James Dean were in the same film. Dean had some small bit parts in a few films and television work before hitting it big. This is one of those bits and you can plainly recognize him as one of the Roaring Twenties kids at the drugstore soda fountain.Has Anybody Seen My Gal did good things for stars Rock Hudson and Piper Laurie, but this film belongs to Charles Coburn and the marvelously droll and funny performance he gave.

gerdeen-1 The title "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" comes from a popular song of the 1920s, and presumably it was slapped on this non-musical movie to let people know when the story is supposed to be taking place. That was a silly idea, but the movie itself is charming. Charles Coburn plays the world's richest man, an elderly recluse whose face is known to virtually no one. (Bear in mind that this movie was made before tycoon Howard Hughes became legendary for his secretive ways.) The rich man travels incognito to the small town where he spent much of his youth. There he becomes the anonymous benefactor of a family that played an early role in his success, though none of its members have any idea of their link to him. He works as a seemingly down-on-his-luck soda jerk in the town, watching up close how his mysterious checks change the lives of people in this ordinary, close-knit family. It's not always a pretty sight, but it does teach a lesson, not just to them but to him. There's a Christmastime angle that isn't absolutely essential to the plot, but it did point out to me this film's similarity to another bittersweet fantasy, Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life." If you want a movie that's heartwarming and entertaining and has a moral, this is a good choice. Try it for Christmas.

graham clarke This is part one of a trilogy of "Americana" movies Sirk made for Universal which are set in the early part of the 20th Century, ("Meet Me At the Fair" and "Take Me To Town" would follow). While critical of different aspects of American society, in this case the power of greed, they are movies that exude much affection for their characters and the country itself. At this point Sirk was still very enamoured with America. His future films would reflect the change of his perception of American society coming to fruition in the big melodramas that lay ahead. "Has Anybody Seen My Gal" signals the beginning of the star building process which took the almost unknown Rock Hudson and over a period of a few years turned him into America's top box office star. Much has been written of the subversive subtexts of Sirk's movies. It would seem his most subversive action was that out of a hunky, gay, not especially talented actor, he created and icon of the prototype fifties American male; a wonderful analogy for appearances and unrevealed truths that are much a part of the fifties psyche. Although Hudson receives top billing in "Has Anyone Seen My Gal", his role is decidedly secondary. This is very much Charles Coburn's movie. Hudson has little to do although his screen presence is already charged with the goodness and charm that were to be his trademarks."Has Anybody Seen My Gal" has the quality stamp of Douglas Sirk. His eye for good camera work, lighting and art direction are all evident. But like the other films of the trilogy it's a very light weight affair.